Utah Tops ALEC Economic Index, Five Years Running

The American Legislative Exchange Council, also known as ALEC announced today that Utah is once again ranked first in the nation for economic outlook. The classification is part of ALEC’s annual Rich States, Poor States economic competitive index.

The ranking is based on the tax, regulatory, and labor policies of individual states. Jonathan Williams is director of the tax and fiscal policy department at ALEC. He says lawmakers in states that are struggling economically should pay attention to the way the legislature operates in Utah.

“Because Utah’s success of lower taxes, living within your means on budget and keeping regulatory burdens in line are exactly what the other 49 states need to know as they work to produce real private sector job creation and growth,” Williams says.

Despite ALEC’s high regard for Utah, groups in the state have chastised the organization for what they believe is a corporate agenda. Republican House Speaker Rebecca Lockhart says the criticism won’t detract from the message.

“ALEC is an organization that believes in limited government, free market principles, personal responsibility," Lockhart says. "Those are the things that I believe that the people in Utah believe in too.”

ALEC’s 39th annual conference began Monday in Salt Lake City and continues through the end of this week.